1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to playing card games of skill and chance and, more particularly, to such playing card games as are suitable for use in casinos, and to a specifically-designed table for playing such games. More specifically, this invention relates to a method and apparatus for permitting a player to select, for the entire table, the next playing card game to be played from among several available playing card games, such as different types of poker.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Card games can be educational, stimulating, as well as an exciting social activity. The same characteristics are further enhanced when the card game is combined with the opportunity for wagering.
As a leisure time activity, five card poker is a game that almost everyone knows how to play. Many variations on poker have been developed, using the same basic priority or rank order of playing cards to define winning hands: Royal Flush; Straight Flush; Four of a Kind; Full House; Flush; Straight; Three of a Kind; Two Pair; One Pair; and High Cards in a Hand.
In those areas having legalized gaming, conventional card room poker is frequently offered as one of the games of chance. The house provides a dealer, the playing cards, the table and chairs, but does not actively participate in the game itself. The house will collect a nominal percentage of each player's bet (known as the "rake"), to compensate the house for providing the facilities, dealer, etc. to the players.
The game of poker tends to emphasize a competitive aspect that appeals to card players that are more confident of their skill level and are less reliant on "luck". Additionally, since the transfer of money during a poker game occurs as among the players of that game, many people are uncomfortable with such a direct connection between one group member's gain and another's loss. "Bank" style games are more appropriate for such players, where play is against an impersonal "house", and winning wagers are paid out of a "corporate" common fund. Additionally, in bank-style games, most players are aware that the "house" shapes the winning odds to assure a statistical advantage.
Conventional card room poker also does not offer a player any bonus payment for particularly good hands. Although a Royal Flush is a rare occurrence, and of course is thrilling for any player fortunate enough to obtain such a hand, that player will collect the same total wager that otherwise would have been collected if all that were needed to win a particular hand was a Three-of-a-Kind.
With these characteristics casinos have been reluctant to devote much table space to the game of poker. In comparison with other casino games, poker's relative lack of popularity and its low dollar return to the house has resulted in minimal space given for poker tables.
In response, there have been attempts to bring excitement to poker tables, such as by modifying poker to include bonus payments and enable play against a banker (house) in "Caribbean Stud Poker.TM." (Suttle, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,553). In Malek, U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,882, the players can play an amalgam of Twenty-One, modified Draw Poker, and Baccarat simultaneously as one game against both the dealer and the other players. In Neal, U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,005, seven individual "table" hands are dealt, with the players and dealer then placing wagers based upon the perceived value of individual hands or combinations of these seven hands.
Ideally, it would be desirable to devise a manner of playing poker or other playing card games that produces player excitement without requiring modifications to the rules of play for well-known and historically-enjoyed playing card games.